The first approach was a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to list all IT personnel and theirs assigned tasks but this turned out to be too cumbersome and hardship for several persons to use. .
An in-house developed web based system was also considered and was in fact implemented but was cancelled since it was not flexible enough to handle the different tasks of the different IT groupings and the different sources of work requests. The last approach was either to buy an existing off the shelf package that would fit the requirements and customize it for the IT organization's structure and procedures or develop one in-house program.
Analyzing the Planning Phase.
In the planning phase, the concept/approach is further developed to describe how the business will operate once the approved system is implemented, and to define project resources, activities, schedules, tools, and reviews to ensure the products and /or services provide the required capability on-time and within budget. The planning phase for this particular project was being done while simple solutions were being used and implemented since there were time constraints and something had to be in place right away. Per Mr. Ferguson, A team was assembled to look into existing applications within the company or packages out in the market that would fit the requirement and assess its flexibility and long-term viability for the organization. That team also had to come up with a process flow of how work will be handled in the new IT structure to help in the use of the short-term solutions and to help in finding a long-term solution. .
Finally, two long-term approaches were proposed. One was that of customizing the off the shelf packaged software that was currently being used by the Help Desk to track PC and Mainframe work requests for PC Desktop Support and Mainframe System Programmers, which was from a program called Remedy. The other was to develop a workflow system in-house.
